Few pastors have been as influential, single-minded, and prolific in advancing the cause of Christ as Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892). A masterful communicator and institution builder, Spurgeon was also unquestionably a pastor to his people at London’s Tabernacle Baptist church in every sense. Arnold Dallimore’s “Spurgeon, A Biography” (Moody Press, 1984) is a helpful introduction to the great preacher.
It’s hard to fully capture the force of Spurgeon’s life on both Christianity specifically and society in general in the second half of the 19th century in Europe and beyond. He published a monthly magazine, The Sword and the Trowel, which was circulated throughout the Christian world during Spurgeon’s life, and is published to this day. He started a Pastors’ College in 1862 that would eventually send out over 600 pastors. He published his Sunday sermons for world-wide distribution. He built Almshouses for needy widows, and orphanages and schools for London’s impoverished children. Much of these efforts were financed out of Spurgeon’s own pockets.
Spurgeon took seriously the Scriptural admonition to “take up the cause” of widows and orphans. In that day, the need was great. Here’s how Spurgeon described circumstances: “In London alone, one hundred thousand children wander in destitution, preparing for our jails or for early graves. Children of the gutter, their food is scant, their lodging foul, their clothing ragged. … Homeless children gather around a muck heap at Convent Garden Market, and gobble up discarded plums and oranges and apples – a sweltering mass of decay – with the avidity of ducks or pigs.”
Spurgeon first built the Almshouses, where needy widows could live free of charge. Soon after, construction on the orphanage began. But Spurgeon’s orphanage would be much different than what was typical at the time. He designed an institution where there would be discipline, education, Christian instruction, with kindness, sport, and individuality. There would be no barracks-like dormitory. The orphanage would consist of individual homes for up to fourteen boys, each home under the care of a matron acting as a mother.
Whenever he visited the orphanage, the children flocked around him. He knew almost all of them by name. Whenever one of them was in the infirmary, Spurgeon made a point to call on them and pray for them.
At nineteen, Spurgeon became pastor at London’s New Park Street church, one of the most prominent Baptist and nonconformist (separate from the state-controlled Anglican Church) churches in England. Even at such a young age, his gifts were obviously prodigious. (He had begun pastoring his small, local church at age 17.) He possessed an exceptional memory and facility with language. His rhetorical skills were captivating, so much so that he was wary of using them too much, fearing they might get in the way of the Spirit’s work on the hearers. He had come to a commitment to God’s claim on his life and to fidelity to grace and the gospel that he would never stray from.
His preaching immediately transformed the then-declining New Park Street church. Attendance and participation in the church’s ministries surged. A congregation of perhaps two hundred quickly outgrew the sanctuary of 1200 seats. It was soon expanded to 2000, but that was not enough. Evening services were held in a London great hall of 4,000 seats, with an overflow space of 1,000. Many were turned away. The young Spurgeon was widely compared to the great Whitefield. Such were the early days of his pastorate at New Park Street that would last to his death 40 years later.
Then, and throughout his career as a pastor, Spurgeon described prayer as his lifeblood. He emphasized the importance of teaching his people to pray sincerely and effectively. Some during this time accused him of arrogance, for he was extremely confident as a young man of 20 to 21. But his sincere humility was hard to miss. He visited the afflicted constantly during a plague. He did not seek fame. The massive response to his ministry threatened to overwhelm him, causing considerable anxiety.
Amazing crowds flocked to hear Spurgeon throughout his career. Yet he never compromised on what he saw as his role: bringing men back to the truths of the historic faith. He said, “My daily labour is to revive the old doctrines of Gill, Owen, Calvin, Augustine, and Christ.” The determination to never compromise or water down truth, while simultaneously presenting an attractive, serving, hopeful faith, would inevitably lead to conflict with established church and secular leaders. Such conflicts affected his well-being but also contributed to the development of his voice and ministry.
We can learn much about Spurgeon’s theology and vision for the church by examining his response to the doctrinal drift that increasingly characterized the church in the second half of the 19th century. Sometimes called the ‘New Theology,’ long-established truths were often called into question, or even abandoned in formerly orthodox churches. These theological innovations were making inroads in all church traditions, including Spurgeon’s Baptist Union.
As stories of doctrinal drift among Baptist preachers made their way to Spurgeon, he reacted forcefully. He argued loudly that the Union had to take a stronger stance. He believed that the Baptist Union should meet the issues head-on with a clear statement of faith consistent with traditional Christian belief. When it became clear that the Union would reject his proposal, Spurgeon took a drastic step. He withdrew his church from the Union, explaining, “… we cannot be expected to meet in any Union which comprehends those whose teaching upon fundamental points is exactly the reverse of that which we hold dear…”
Spurgeon and his church would pay a heavy price for this decision. He did not believe he could do otherwise.
When Spurgeon started his career in London’s New Park Street Church, Christianity in the city and country was generally anemic and complacent. Spurgeon took on this condition directly. He was a theologian who had given deep and sustained thought to the doctrines of the historic Christian church. He believed and taught that the human heart is set against God. And that only through God’s Spirit could sinful man gain sight of his need for Christ. Men were powerless, but Christ’s work on the cross meant all could be reconciled and saved. God makes the unwilling willing.
When historical Christianity was attacked, Spurgeon was often its most prominent defender. This was because of both his large platform and visibility, but also because he was perhaps its most capable defender. He did not cherish the role. He lost friends. He lost reputation, as powerful voices questioned his motives, for example, by claiming that he was seeking attention and power. But Spurgeon remained, ultimately, at peace. All the opposition taught him to sacrifice his reputation for Christ. “If I must lose that [reputation],” he wrote, “then let it go; it is the dearest thing I have, but it shall go too, if, like my Master, they shall say I have a devil and am mad.”
Spurgeon and his wife suffered through a litany of health issues. His poor health limited his ministry appearances at several points, for example, preventing him from traveling to and preaching in America despite a great desire to do so.
He approached his health the same way he did the rest of his life: with belief that God is sovereign and his purposes, however inscrutable in this life, are far better than our own. He was transparent with his congregation about his struggles with severe gout and depression. He wrote about how severe trials can deepen one’s relationship with God. In one sermon, he reminded his church that in trials … “We can still say, ‘Our Father,’ and when it is very dark, and we are very weak, our childlike appeal can go up, ‘Father, help me! Father, rescue me!’”
Charles Spurgeon was an enormously gifted servant who clearly saw the spiritual and material needs of his society and the world. Compelled by the gospel, he faithfully and humbly dedicated his entire being to addressing those needs, to a degree few have matched before or since. Christians can profit by studying his life and testimony.